The above phrase was the title of this informative and entertaining review/article that appeared in my inbox this morning by Dr. Will Dabbs in the American Handgunner. I have owned three Browning Hi-Powers and loved them all. I have owned none of the new "clones" so far. Click HERE to read the review.
Thanks, I would like to see a head to head with the Girson MC P35. They are priced about the same.
ReplyDeleteNever owned a Browning, or even shot one, but, would love to put 100 rounds through that one for sure.
ReplyDeleteIn truth, I have never had a performance issue with any gun. Had a S&W M&P, shot fine, just, just hated the trigger. Sold that one and bought A Ruger SR9C I am more accurate with that than any other pistol I have owned. That one is on my hip when I carry. But. I have not had any failures with any of my guns. No jams, hiccups, failure to feed, except for my Sig P320, bought two Xtra mags with the pistol and one Mag would not feed properly. Happened twice, and I tossed the Mag, no more issues. Need to get back to the range, this being broke sucks
The first HP I owned was manufactured when the Germans were running FN at Herstal. It was made in late 1944 I believe. I experienced some "hiccups" with cheaper ammo, but premium brands were better. Like many guns and cars I owned in my youth, I wish I had that Browning back.
Deleteyup. I know all too well what you mean. had a Mauser HSC in 380 that was a ww2 bring back, German army marking, sold it for cheap to a "friend" who lusted after it. best car I ever owned was a 55 chevy I bought for 250 from a old friend of my dad. less than 70 thousand miles on it. 6 cyl and powerglide.
Delete2 door car that lived in a garage a block away from our house. if we only knew what we had back then and kept it, we be much happier today ! old Mauser rifles for 20 bucks. things like that. dave in pa.
Never owned a Browning, or even shot one, but, would love to put 100 rounds through that one for sure.
ReplyDeleteIn truth, I have never had a performance issue with any gun. Had a S&W M&P, shot fine, just, just hated the trigger. Sold that one and bought A Ruger SR9C I am more accurate with that than any other pistol I have owned. That one is on my hip when I carry. But. I have not had any failures with any of my guns. No jams, hiccups, failure to feed, except for my Sig P320, bought two Xtra mags with the pistol and one Mag would not feed properly. Happened twice, and I tossed the Mag, no more issues. Need to get back to the range, this being broke sucks
Great to see you on here Doug! I lost track of you and the site during some family seriousness; I'll search and find the site again.
DeleteHey Dan Been busy with caring for my mom and trying to pay bills.....Here is my site https://daleygatordaleybabes.wordpress.com/
DeleteWould love some range time with that. Very nice
ReplyDeletewell, I have owned 2 high powers before getting a Springfield SA-35. and it is a outstanding pistol. one was a early 1970's FN model and the other one was a WW2 bring back. both used to bite me now and then if I wasn't watching.
ReplyDeleteboth ran great on ball ammo. the SA-35 will shoot anything I fit in the magazine. put 300 rounds thru it the same day I got it. that part was funny. went shopping for some 22lr ammo for the coming grandson and walked by the pistol case. there it was. the only one in the store. looked at it and bought it 10 minutes later.
at 679 it was mine. great carry gun. although finding a good holster can be a problem.
but all in all. it is a great pistol the p-35. might have to look up this one. BTW, Mecgar magazines work great !
and are cheaper than the browning or Springfield ones cost. same magazine really. dave in pa.
Hello Dave, I also have a SA-35. I bought a Desantis iwb holster for it and it's worked out great. I've also not found any ammo it will not feed and shoot. That said I haven't gotten to the 800 round count that's supposed to be the extraction failure number.
Deleteyeah, Desantis owb is what I ended up with and a Bianchi iwb that I used everyday. funny part is that holster "made for the hi power" fit a 1911 really well ? some times I think they used one mold for both ?
Deleteanyway, I have 2 that work and a nice shoulder holster for winter use. BTW, I have over 2000 rounds thru my SA-35 and not one problem yet ! dave in pa.
Carried a Hi Power in Viet Nam, it had a US Government stamp on it, I couldn't get it home. Bought one in the 70's still love it.
ReplyDeleteGreat deal. I have a WWII Inglis, made in Canada for the Chinese and it's sloppy but accurate as hell.
ReplyDelete9mm? I'll pass
ReplyDeleteMy father-in-law has an original High Power with artillery sights on it. Pretty neat old pistol.
ReplyDeleteLeigh
Whitehall, NY
Some may find this of interest, pricey, but cool:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.oowinc.com/exclusives/semi-auto/1918a3-slr/?fbclid=IwAR32wTAHONR0i3lnS_WUFxt9yXH35GRIwdiioMtVN1IFUJkyF6lVW1llItw
My birthday is next week and my son in law said a Browning High Power may be in my future
ReplyDeleteI have a FM Browning P35, made in Argentina. made on Browning supplied tooling as part of their purchases as the first military/ police contract for the pistol. It is, by far, my favorite pistol. In spite of my many Glocks and 1911s, and others. I've only had one failure with it and that was a burst case. Not the failure of the pistol. Blew the right grip loose, which stung my hand a bit. Put some brass chips in the locking lugs and the chamber. I detail stripped it at home. Examined it, cleaned, it and re-assembled it. That was 15 years ago. been shooting it ever since with no issues. My favorite pistol.
ReplyDeleteyears ago I had a guy offer to sell me a hi power. he got it in iraq during desert storm, and he was the MP that checked everyones baggage for trophies..but no one was checking his...
ReplyDeleteit was a very early model, belgian markings with a low 3 digit serial number and a slot in the butt for the stock. it had been engraved with the unit crest of some iraq tank unit, and had gold inlay and a lot of other fancy touches like it was a museum piece. white grip panels, so maybe ivory. he said he took it off some general, I didn't get into specifics as to the name.
well he offers it to me for $300. his wife wants it out of the house, he's in MA and it's not registered, he's not really a gun guy, ect ect...I'm thinking "shut up and take my money". then he starts talking about hand grenades. idiot smuggled some old hand grenades back from iraq. he wanted to show me pictures. I didn't look because I honestly didn't want to know. the whole thing was screaming TRAP to me at that point.
I told him to go fishing with the grenades, and when they were gone I would happily buy that pistol off him. he stopped talking to me.
I once had a High Power that I bought for next to nothing in a pawn shop as a "no name 9mm"
ReplyDeleteVery dirty, which is why they didn't see the 1944 WaffenAmpt markings, the dirty birds, or the FN marks.
I managed to pay their price without cracking a smile.
Love the Browning hi power but if you are gonna buy one, buy a few slide locking levers as spares because once that little piece of metal gets worn, it's nothing but trouble.
ReplyDeleteHave a mid-80s vintage FN P-35. Added 5 new MecGar 15-round magazines just last week.
ReplyDeleteDid the following: Wiped off the exterior shipping grease, popped the floor-plates to inspect springs and interior lubrication, reassembled and made sure follower would engage slide lock on empty magazine, fully loaded magazines (you WILL need a LULA mag loader for this) and made sure mags would seat properly with full load. Some older magazines will NOT properly seat when fully loaded. That problem lead the SAS and other organizations to load only 12 rounds into their 13-round mags. Tomorrow is range day to make sure all 5 feed.
Very good advice. I have a Star in 9 mm (stop throwing things at me) with that seating trouble. Thank you.
Deletecheck out Wolff gun springs for replacement springs for your magazines. if you call them, be nice as they are to you. I called and got my replacement springs for a bunch of Sig Sauer magazines I bought used as police trade ins but a 6 bucks a magazine, couldn't pass that up ! some 0000 steel wool and WD-40 later, all of them worked as good as new. you have to love a well made magazine that works. BTW, the springs came by UPS the next day ! I live in the other side of the state from them. great people to deal with ! dave in pa.
DeleteOne of these, with Hogue grips.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely the most accurate 9 I've ever had the pleasure of shooting.
https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/pistols/hi-power/discontinued/hi-power-practical.html
CC
In a world full of Tupperware I find myself attracted to any steel gun. I carry a G19 Monday thru Friday. So I don't scratch a 1911. I've shot High Powers. Pretty impressive weapon. I may need to check one of these out.
ReplyDeleteI've owned an FM Hi-power, very nice gun. Slightly off topic, I currently own an FEG P9R and an Arcus 98DA, Balkan DA/SA kinda sorta clones (if a Hi-power had a one night stand with a 2nd gen S&W semi). Both great shooters, completely reliable and accurate, and all steel. Both use Hi-power mags, although the FEG isn't supposed to.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 80's-90's the local indoor range had a HiPower in their rental collection. It was ALWAYS broken/red tagged. Finally, on one visit it was available! Damn thing broke during the second mag full. IIRC, the extractor broke. I don't recall which type it was, internal or external. The range workers had indicated that the HiPower was VERY popular for rentals, and they had a lot of rental handguns, but just the one P-35.
ReplyDelete